Written Answers Monday 18 December 2006

Scottish Executive

Act of Settlement 1701

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the Scottish Parliament’s decision to support amendment of the Act of Settlement 1701, whether the First Minister has any plans to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Act of Settlement is, under the terms of the Scotland Act 1998, a matter reserved to the United Kingdom Parliament. The Executive has no plans to discuss the issue with Her Majesty’s Government.

Animal Welfare

John Farquhar Munro (Ross, Skye and Inverness West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what further action it has taken to secure a derogation for the Highlands and Islands under Article 30(7) of EU Regulation 1/2005 on the welfare of farm animals during transport.

Ross Finnie: Article 30(7) of EU Regulation 1/2005 states that "Member States may continue to apply the current national provisions concerning transport of animals within their outermost regions". The Highlands and Islands is not one of the seven "outermost regions" recognised by the EU. Therefore, there are no grounds on which a derogation could be sought. In addition the existing Welfare of Animals (Transport) Order 1997 makes no special provisions for the Highlands and Islands. The majority of the animal welfare requirements which farmers and crofters require to meet remain the same.

Crime

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) violent crimes, (b) vehicle thefts and (c) burglaries there have been in each (i) police authority and (ii) local authority area in each of the last 20 years; what the year-on-year change has been, and what percentage of total crime figures was represented by each category in each year.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is given in The numbers of violent crimes, vehicle thefts and burglaries in each police authority and local authority area from 1986 to 1994, and 1995-96 to 2005-06 , a copy of which has been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41211).

Drug Misuse

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many drug users have entered treatment in Tayside in each of the last five years.

Cathy Jamieson: The information requested is available online at: http://www.drugmisuse.isdscotland.org/publications/abstracts/ISDbull.htm .

Drug Misuse

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children of school age have been cautioned for drug-related offences in each year since 1997, broken down by police force area.

Cathy Jamieson: Scotland does not have a formal caution procedure.

Justice

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been given bail when charged with drug offences in each year since 1999, broken down by police authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Bail Orders Granted in Scotland for Drug Offences1,2, by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central 
 54
 72
 91
 141
 142
 196
 204


 Dumfries and Galloway
 39
 24
 40
 87
 61
 77
 78


 Fife 
 72
 93
 121
 121
 111
 128
 157


 Grampian 
 121
 151
 203
 238
 234
 264
 333


 Lothian and Borders 
 231
 258
 279
 314
 387
 451
 526


 Northern 
 63
 55
 77
 76
 117
 83
 93


 Strathclyde 
 1,056
 1,228
 1,336
 1,563
 1,809
 1,884
 1,873


 Tayside 
 96
 142
 175
 191
 255
 258
 267


 Scotland1
 1,732
 2,023
 2,322
 2,731
 3,116
 3,341
 3,532



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Excludes modifications to existing bail orders - persons counted once only where more than one bail order on the same day.

  It should be noted that the number of crimes cleared up by the police annually which fall into this category has increased from 30,000 to 43,000 over the period from 1999-2000 to 2005-06. The figures for the number of bail orders granted in respect of these offences should be read in that context.

Justice

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been given bail when charged with housebreaking offences in each year since 1999, broken down by police authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Bail Orders Granted in Scotland for Housebreaking1,2, by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central 
 46
 68
 105
 132
 151
 134
 114


 Dumfries and Galloway
 43
 65
 42
 66
 50
 47
 40


 Fife 
 123
 192
 244
 271
 173
 183
 182


 Grampian 
 178
 183
 219
 257
 243
 198
 205


 Lothian and Borders 
 236
 267
 286
 360
 343
 337
 388


 Northern 
 41
 60
 47
 57
 63
 64
 55


 Strathclyde 
 816
 887
 848
 1040
 965
 931
 731


 Tayside 
 171
 144
 206
 246
 219
 239
 195


 Scotland
 1,654
 1,866
 1,997
 2,429
 2,207
 2,133
 1,910



  Note:

  1. Where main offence

  2. Excludes modifications to existing bail orders - persons counted once only where more than one bail order on the same day.

Justice

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been given bail when charged with theft of motor vehicles in each year since 1999, broken down by police authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Bail Orders Granted in Scotland for Theft of Motor Vehicle1,2, by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central 
 27
 31
 44
 57
 53
 57
 45


 Dumfries and Galloway
 12
 10
 22
 28
 16
 34
 19


 Fife 
 68
 95
 85
 89
 63
 68
 38


 Grampian 
 77
 76
 88
 62
 66
 66
 61


 Lothian and Borders 
 174
 177
 188
 229
 193
 203
 217


 Northern 
 36
 43
 40
 39
 55
 34
 48


 Strathclyde 
 705
 654
 631
 759
 595
 504
 462


 Tayside 
 78
 82
 120
 93
 103
 98
 85


 Scotland
 1,177
 1,168
 1,218
 1,356
 1,144
 1,064
 975



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Excludes modifications to existing bail orders - persons counted once only where more than one bail order on the same day.

Justice

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals have been given bail when charged with criminal damage in each year since 1999, broken down by police authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The available information is given in the following table.

  Bail Orders Granted in Scotland for Fire-Raising, Vandalism, etc1,2, by Police Force Area, 1999-2000 to 2005-06

  

 Police Force
 1999-2000
 2000-01
 2001-02
 2002-03
 2003-04
 2004-05
 2005-06


 Central 
 39
 57
 114
 149
 214
 238
 296


 Dumfries and Galloway
 28
 36
 39
 45
 62
 87
 89


 Fife 
 112
 164
 191
 215
 197
 206
 257


 Grampian 
 76
 107
 129
 144
 168
 128
 214


 Lothian and Borders 
 215
 287
 298
 349
 370
 436
 507


 Northern 
 73
 83
 112
 122
 146
 164
 166


 Strathclyde 
 817
 885
 1,021
 1,316
 1,502
 1,738
 1,776


 Tayside 
 164
 157
 210
 225
 319
 326
 294


 Scotland
 1,524
 1,776
 2,114
 2,565
 2,978
 3,323
 3,599



  Notes:

  1. Where main offence.

  2. Excludes modifications to existing bail orders - persons counted once only where more than one bail order on the same day.

  It should be noted that the number of crimes cleared up by the police annually which fall into this category has increased from 19,000 to 29,000 over the period from 1999-2000 to 2005-06. The figures for the number of bail orders granted in respect of these offences should be read in that context.

Justice

Bruce Crawford (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many individuals charged with (a) rape, (b) drug offences, (c) housebreaking, (d) theft of motor vehicles, and (e) criminal damage have absconded when on bail in each year since 1999, broken down by police authority area.

Cathy Jamieson: The information held centrally on persons convicted for bail absconding does not identify the type of charge for which they were on bail.

Justice

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has plans to introduce legislation to provide for trials without jury in serious fraud cases, similar to that planned by the UK Government and announced in the Queen’s Speech.

Cathy Jamieson: We have no plans to do so.

  In response to a public consultation in 1998 the clear view was expressed that there was no case for changing the present method of trial in serious fraud cases in Scotland.

Ministerial Visits

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many ministerial visits to the Scottish Borders have been made in each year since 1999 by (a) Robert Brown MSP, (b) Ross Finnie MSP, (c) George Lyon MSP, (d) Euan Robson MSP, (e) Tavish Scott MSP, (f) Iain Smith MSP, (g) Nicol Stephen MSP and Jim Wallace MSP.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Mr Tom McCabe: The information requested is shown in the following table. The information identified in the table has been gathered from the various Ministerial Private Offices and is as complete as our records allow. Different Private Offices record and retain information in different ways, which is perfectly acceptable for our business purposes, but does not allow us to easily extract the information requested.

  

 Minister
 Title
 Visits


 Robert Brown
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People
 2


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development
 20


 George Lyon
 Deputy Minister for Finance, Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business
 1


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People
 16


 Tavish Scott
 Deputy Minister for Finance and Public Service Reform
 2


 Tavish Scott
 Minister for Transport
 2


 Nicol Stephen
 Deputy First Minister
 1


 Nicol Stephen
 Minister for Transport
 2


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 10


 Total
 56

Ministerial Visits

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2W-27954 by Mr Tom McCabe on 18 October 2006, whether the answer indicates that it has recorded no dates for ministerial visits to the Scottish Borders since 1999 by (a) Robert Brown MSP, (b) Ross Finnie MSP, (c) George Lyon MSP, (d) Euan Robson MSP, (e) Tavish Scott MSP, (f) Iain Smith MSP, (g) Nicol Stephen MSP and (h) Jim Wallace MSP.

The Executive have supplied the following corrected answer:

Tom McCabe: The dates recorded are shown in the following table in chronological order. The information has been gathered from the various Ministerial Private Offices and is as complete as our records allow. Different Private Offices record and retain information in different ways which is perfectly acceptable for our business purposes, but does not allow us to easily extract the information requested.

  

 Name of Minister
 Title
 Date


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 08/10/1999


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 12/10/1999


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 21/10/1999


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 03/04/2000


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 12/07/2000


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 13/07/2000


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 Unspecified date March/April 2001


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 18/05/2001


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 21/06/2001


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 25/07/2001


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 26/07/2001


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 02/08/2001


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 16/08/2001


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 20/08/2001


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 05/03/2002


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 29/05/2002


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 27/08/2002


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 28/08/2002


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 03/02/2003


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 04/02/2003


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 21/02/2003


 Tavish Scott
 Deputy Minister Finance Public Service Reform 
 11/08/2003


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 31/10/2003


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 03/02/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 09/02/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 12/02/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 15/04/2004


 Tavish Scott
 Deputy Minister Finance Public Service Reform 
 15/04/2004


 Nicol Stephen
 Minister for Transport 
 20/04/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 07/05/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 14/05/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 07/06/2004


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 11/06/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 14/06/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 15/06/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 12/11/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 15/11/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 06/12/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 10/12/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 13/12/2004


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 05/03/2005


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 11/03/2005


 Nicol Stephen
 Minister for Transport 
 14/03/2005


 Euan Robson
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 23/05/2005


 Jim Wallace
 Deputy First Minister
 10/06/2005


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 27/06/2005


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 28/07/2005


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 29/07/2005


 Robert Brown
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 16/09/2005


 Tavish Scott
 Minister for Transport 
 12/12/2005


 Nicol Stephen
 Deputy First Minister
 27/03/2006


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 22/08/2006


 Robert Brown
 Deputy Minister for Education and Young People 
 23/08/2006


 George Lyon
 Deputy Minister Finance Public Service Reform and Parliamentary Business
 24/08/2006


 Ross Finnie
 Minister for Environment and Rural Development 
 13/09/2006


 Tavish Scott
 Minister for Transport 
 13/09/2006

Police

Campbell Martin (West of Scotland) (Ind): To ask the Scottish Executive what the impact has been of a reduction in policing levels over the last 10 years in the Ayrshire village of West Kilbride, from one sergeant and five constables to one community police officer, on the service provided to the community by Strathclyde Police and, in particular, what the impact has been on clear-up rates for vandalism and drug-related crime in the area and what action the Executive will take to reassure the West Kilbride population that they are protected by the police.

Cathy Jamieson: Operational policing is a matter for individual Chief Constables. Strathclyde Police was allocated in the region of £496 million, out of a total police budget of almost £1.1 billion for 2006-07. In the last five years alone funding for Strathclyde Police has increased by £125.4 million and the number of police officers has risen by 472 with support staff rising by 895.

Prison Service

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it is taking to retain staff and boost morale in the Scottish Prison Service.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The SPS offer attractive terms and conditions of employment. In general, the SPS has no concerns relating to staff retention.
To make a necessary contribution to the Executive’s Efficient Government initiative and to help reduce the SPS uncompetitive market position, we are reducing operating costs but are doing so with a no-redundancy policy. The SPS offers staff attendance arrangements which aim to support a family/work life balance.

Prison Service

Mr John Swinney (North Tayside) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisation carries out the monitoring and scrutiny of conditions when individuals are being transported to and from court by Reliance, in the same way that prison visiting committees carry out this function for transportation to and from prisons.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
The Scottish Prison Service.

Prison Service

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-11138 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 November 2006, on how many days from 1 April to 31 October 2006 occupancy at HM Prison Inverness was below the contracted level of 150 places.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
One hundred and twenty-six.

Prison Service

Rob Gibson (Highlands and Islands) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S2O-11138 by Cathy Jamieson on 23 November 2006, on how many days from 1 April to 31 October 2006 occupancy at HM Prison Inverness exceeded the contracted level of 150 places.

Cathy Jamieson: I have asked Tony Cameron, Chief Executive of the Scottish Prison Service to respond. His response is as follows:

  
Eighty-four.

Scottish Fingerprint Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive which organisations are the official employers of individuals working in the four bureaux of the Scottish Fingerprint Service.

Cathy Jamieson: Individuals working in the bureaux of the Scottish Fingerprint Service (SFS) are currently employed by the Joint Police Board of the area where they work (Grampian, Lothian and Borders, Strathclyde or Tayside).

Scottish Fingerprint Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the staffing establishment and structure are of each of the four bureaux of the Scottish Fingerprint Service and to whom each head of bureau reports.

Cathy Jamieson: The current staffing establishment of the Scottish Fingerprint Service is:

  

 
 Glasgow
 Aberdeen
 Dundee
 Edinburgh


 Head of SFS
 1
 
 
 


 Head/Deputy of Bureau
 1
 1
 1
 1


 Quality Assurance Officer
 1
 1
 1
 1


 Principal Fingerprint Officer
 5
 1
 
 


 Senior Fingerprint Officer
 6.5
 
 2
 1


 Training Manager
 1
 
 
 


 Training Officer
 1
 
 
 


 Training Coordinator
 1
 
 
 


 Fingerprint Officers/Trainees
 25.5/2
 6/3
 5/2
 5/2


 Senior Tenprint Ident Officer
 5
 
 
 


 Tenprint Ident Officer
 15
 
 
 


 Fingerprint Clerk
 16.5
 
 
 


 Administrative Assistant
 3
 2
 1
 1


 IDENT 1 Project
 2
 
 
 


 Total
 86.5
 14
 12
 11



  Note: *Establishment as of November 2006.

  Diagrams of the current structure of the Scottish Fingerprint Service, including reporting lines, have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41321).

  The Scottish Fingerprint Service will become part of the Scottish Police Services Authority from 1 April 2007, as part of the new Scottish Forensic Science Service, with staff transferring on their current terms and conditions of employment.

Scottish Fingerprint Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive what the job roles and responsibilities are of all positions within the Scottish Fingerprint Service.

Cathy Jamieson: Information about the current roles and responsibilities of positions in the Scottish Fingerprint Service have been placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 41321).

  The Scottish Fingerprint Service will become part of the Scottish Police Services Authority from 1 April 2007, as part of the new Scottish Forensic Science Service, with staff transferring on their current terms and conditions of employment.

Scottish Fingerprint Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fingerprint cases have been prepared for court by each fingerprint bureau since 1999.

Cathy Jamieson: The number of fingerprint cases prepared for court by each fingerprint bureau of the Scottish Fingerprint Service is as follows:

  

 
 Glasgow
 Aberdeen
 Dundee
 Edinburgh


 1999
 406
 128
 Not available
 Not available


 2000
 343
 122
 110
 Not available


 2001
 235
 107
 96
 Not available


 2002
 275
 143
 113
 Not available


 2003
 208
 155
 104
 Not available


 2004
 161
 102
 86
 Not available


 2005
 148
 123
 78
 116


 2006
 178
 78
 65
 94



  Source: Scottish Criminal Record Office.

Scottish Fingerprint Service

Tommy Sheridan (Glasgow) (Sol): To ask the Scottish Executive whether any fingerprint experts currently working in the Scottish Fingerprint Service have been removed from the list of authorised experts maintained by the Executive and, if so, how many have been removed and on what dates, who recommended such removals and when the experts received written confirmation of the removals.

Cathy Jamieson: Forensic scientists (including fingerprint experts) may be authorised under section 280(5) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995 for the purposes of section 280(4) of that act, i.e. the co-signing of reports in relation to routine evidence for criminal proceedings. The Executive records such authorisations; no fingerprint expert currently working in the Scottish Fingerprint Service has been removed from those records.

Social Work

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the funding earmarked for implementation of Changing Lives: Report of the 21st Century Social Work Review has been allocated; which local authorities have been allocated funding; how much each has been allocated, and for what purpose.

Hugh Henry: The Executive has earmarked £15 million over the first two years of the five year implementation programme for Changing Lives. For 2006-07 we plan to spend around £1.5 million. No specific funding within this has been allocated to individual local authorities.

  The five Change Programmes to drive forward this work have had their initial meetings and their workplans will be firmed up in the new year. We are also currently analysing the self assessment returns from local authorities on the priority areas for work they are undertaking. This will feed into the work of the Change Programmes and inform future allocation of funding, whether directly to individual local authorities or elsewhere.

Transport

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pupils travelled to school in Dundee (a) by car, (b) by bus, (c) on foot and (d) by bicycle in each of the last three years.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pupils travelled to school in Angus (a) by car, (b) by bus, (c) on foot and (d) by bicycle in each of the last three years.

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what percentage of pupils travelled to school in Aberdeenshire (a) by car, (b) by bus, (c) on foot and (d) by bicycle in each of the last three years.

Hugh Henry: The information requested is not available on an annual basis. The Scottish Household Survey provides figures on a two year basis. Information for the two year period 2003-04 - the most recent available - is given in table 22 of Transport Across Scotland in 2003 and 2004: some Scottish Household Survey results for parts of Scotland , published by the Scottish Executive in 2006, copies of which are available from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 39255). The corresponding figures for 1999-2000 and 2001-02 are available in earlier editions. Figures for 2005-06 should be published in December 2007.